Launching 3D Game Kit: Explore and Learn Unity in 3D

In February, Unity’s Content Team brought you The Explorer 2D Game Kit, a collection of mechanics, tools, systems and assets to hook up gameplay without writing any code. Now we’re bringing you the three-dimensional world of Ellen and her mission to explore the unknown alien landscape where her dropship has crash landed. The beautiful game example takes you through the towering abandoned ruins of this mysterious planet standing in the shadows of strange, giant plantlife.

We’ve created the game example using similar systems to the 2D Game Kit, so if you’ve had fun with that and want to learn more, or want to start from scratch with 3D, check it out!

Meet Ellen, our Principal Engineer. Her ship has crashed on a mysterious planet, full of monstrous brightly colored plant life, slobbering maniacal creatures and fizzing acid-filled pools. The walls and ruins surrounding her are clearly derelict, abandoned many thousands of years ago. What life can she discover? Who is waiting for her in the dark crypts below the dual-moon skies?

The Content Team has crammed this Game Kit project with loads of beautiful galactic 3D art assets. And just like the 2D Game Kit, this includes moving platforms, destructible boxes and switches to open giant alien stone doors. Plus, of course, some excellent evil to defeat.

Let’s just quickly recap what we mean by Game Kit. Every single asset, gameplay element, visual effect and sound is saved in the project ready for you to use. Create a new scene using the kit’s tools and find Ellen ready to go on a small piece of ground. Then add hills, pillars, giant towering stairs and doorways. With Prefabs-a-plenty to drag in, start making your own Explorer 3D game with a few clicks.

To start making your own 3D platformer, we’ve put together a Quick Start Guide on the Learn Site. Keep an eye out for more step-by-step documentation and a reference guide over the next few weeks.

The 3D Game Kit is available now for 2018.1, and you can find it on the Asset Store or through the Learn Site. You can also access the Asset Store from within the Unity engine itself and search for ‘3D Game Kit’. For extra help and to connect with other users of the Kit, head to our dedicated forum thread.

On May 23, Matt Schell will be hosting an Online User Group where the development leads of the Kit will be discussing what’s included and how to use it. Tune in at 7pm BST/11am PT.

While the performance of this project is pretty abysmal, I’m very happy to see Unity put out this type of quality content for their customers. I’ve been wanting this level of demo scene in Unity for 10 years at least. Glad to see some resources put into this, finally! Now it just needs a bit more time in the oven for an optimization pass (because it’s nearly un-playable in-editor).

that’s about right. I get the feeling this was released early, unfinished and unoptimised, in a panicked response to the gargantuan release of 3D content by Unreal Engine, from the shuttered Paragon game.